Hosea 9:3
in Hosea 9They will not remain in the land of the LORD; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They shall not dwell in Jehovah’s land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.
KJV
They shall not dwell in the Lord’s land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.
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This verse in Hosea 9
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThey shall not dwell in the Lord's land,.... The land of Israel, or Canaan; which, though all the earth is the Lord's, was peculiarly his; which he had chosen for himself, and for this people; where he had his temple, and caused his Shechinah or divine Majesty to dwell in a very special manner, and where his worship and service were performed. So the Targum calls it the land of the Shechinah or majesty of the Lord. Sometimes it is called Immanuel's land, where the Messiah Immanuel, God with us, was to be born, and dwell, and where he did.
This site's exposition
They shall not dwell in the Lord’s land
on Hosea 9:3-4
They shall not dwell in the Lord's land reverses the promise at the root of Israel's identity, exile pictured as a return to Egypt in one direction and captivity in Assyria in the other, both a forfeiture of the inheritance. Unclean food in a foreign land matters because worship and diet were bound together under the law, so exile itself becomes ritual defilement, a people unable to stay clean even if they wished to. Verse four extends the same logic to sacrifice, offerings made in exile counted as the bread of mourners, food touched by death and so polluting rather than pleasing, unable to come into the house of the Lord because no house will be left to bring it to.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"They shall not dwell in the land of the Lord. Ephraim returned to Egypt, and in Assyria he ate polluted food. They shall not offer wine to the Lord, nor shall their sacrifices please him; like the bread of mourners, all who eat it shall be defiled, because their bread does not enter the house of the Lord, which is their soul." LXX: "They did not dwell in the land of the Lord; Ephraim lived in Egypt and ate unclean things among the Assyrians.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It was a great sin and folly to rebel against God, and go a whoring from him, in such a land as this, to deal unjustly in a land of uprightness, Isa. xxvi. And it was a sad and sore judgment to be driven out from such a land as this; it was like driving our first parents out of the garden of Eden, and almost amounted to an exclusion out of the heavenly Canaan.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
They shall not dwell in the Lord’s land. The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof - Yet He had chosen the land of Canaan, there to place His people; there, above others, to work His miracles; there to reveal Himself; there to send His Son to take our flesh. He had put Israel in possession of it, to hold it under Him on condition of obedience.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
return to Egypt--(See on Ho 8:13). As in Ho 11:5 it is said, "He shall not return into . . . Egypt." FAIRBAIRN thinks it is not the exact country that is meant, but the bondage state with which, from past experience, Egypt was identified in their minds.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
But Ephraim shall return to Egypt - See on Hos 8:12 (note).
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֵשְׁב֖וּ | yeshevu | they will remain | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בְּאֶ֣רֶץ | beeretz | in [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְשָׁ֤ב | veshav | and he will return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֶפְרַ֙יִם֙ | ʾefrayim | Ephraim | H669 → | 180 times |
| מִצְרַ֔יִם | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| וּבְאַשּׁ֖וּר | uveashur | and in Assyria | H804 → | 151 times |
| טָמֵ֥א | tame' | unclean [food] | H2931 → | |
| יֹאכֵֽלוּ׃ | yokhelu | they will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יֵשְׁב֖וּthey will remain
yeshevuH3427 →1079 times
בְּאֶ֣רֶץin [the] land of
beeretzH776 →2504 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְשָׁ֤בand he will return
veshavH7725 →1056 times
אֶפְרַ֙יִם֙Ephraim
ʾefrayimH669 →180 times
מִצְרַ֔יִםEgypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 times
וּבְאַשּׁ֖וּרand in Assyria
uveashurH804 →151 times
טָמֵ֥אunclean [food]
tame'H2931 →
יֹאכֵֽלוּ׃they will eat
yokheluH398 →810 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 2:7I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and bounty, but you came and defiled My land, and made My inheritance detestable.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 8:7–9
For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks and fountains and springs that flow through the valleys and hills;
- Jeremiah 16:18
And I will first repay them double their iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled My land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and they have filled My inheritance with their abominations.”
- Numbers 13:27
And they gave this account to Moses: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and indeed, it is flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit!
- Deuteronomy 8:7–9
Through
Leviticus 25:23The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:11
Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
- Ezekiel 48:14
They must not sell or exchange any of it, and they must not transfer this best part of the land, for it is holy to the LORD.
- Psalms 39:12
Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.
- Psalms 24:1
The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.
- 1 Chronicles 29:15
For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.
- 1 Peter 2:11
About Hosea
Who and where
3 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PlaceThe NileEgyptThe land where Joseph rose, where Israel grew into a nation in bondage, where the Passover lamb was slain and the sea opened, and…
- PlaceUpper MesopotamiaAssyriaMesopotamian empire whose capital Nineveh repented at Jonah's preaching and fell to Nahum's burden in 612 BC; the rod of God's ang…
- PlaceJudeaEphraimThe town near the wilderness where Jesus withdrew with His disciples before the last Passover (John 11:54).
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 9:3-4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.